Shedding Light on Afghanistan's Female Opium Addicts [SLIDESHOW]

With little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in Afghanistan.Reuters

With little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in Afghanistan.ReutersWith little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in Afghanistan.ReutersWith little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in Afghanistan. Picture taken January 29, 2012.ReutersWith little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in Afghanistan.ReutersWith little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in AfghanistanReutersWith little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in Afghanistan.ReutersWith little funding and no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at Nejat for a problem that is growing in a dirt-poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades. Opiate consumption in Afghanistan, where it has long been a medication but in recent years has been used increasingly for recreation, is also on a sharp rise. Nejat estimates around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. Shrouded in stigma, female drug users is a topic that is almost never mentioned in AfghanistanReutersFor a long time, rural folk in parts of Afghanistan have had a casual attitude towards opium, using it as a panacea for just about anything due to the lack of medicines. Afghanistan is the world's largest opium producer and exporter but most people tend to forget that it is also a huge narcotics consumer. Heroin, opium and other drugs are becoming a scourge on the streets of Kabul.Reuters

Afghanistan is almost universally acknowledged as the greatest opium producer in the world. The substance, which is used to make heroin, has, in turn, been recognised as the most dangerous drug worldwide.

According to United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghani production has largely exceeded estimated global demand for the past several years, resulting in the creation of large stocks.

This has massively affected the lives of women in the troubled country - Nejat, an independent Afghani NGO - estimates that around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana. The conservative community, however, ignores the topic of female drug users.

The economic situation is poor with little funding and with no access to substitution drugs such as methadone, treatment is rudimentary at best. The whole affair is an urgent problem for a poor country riven by conflicts for more than three decades, according to a Reuters report.

It has further been revealed that the consumption of opium in Afghanistan is also increasingly being used for recreational purposes.

Check out these photos of Afghani female drug addicts and the lives they lead...